Fixes to East County bicycling dangers on the way, say transportation officials

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Cars turn across from the unmarked center lane at the Hillcrest BART. Cyclists and others are worried that the center lane, which is for bicycles, will pose a danger if cars cross over in front of the cyclists. Courtesy Curtis Corlew

ANTIOCH — With Antioch’s eBART station set to open next spring, transportation officials are working on improving a road design so bicyclists can reach the transit hub without risking life and limb.

The bike route leading to the train station off Hillcrest Avenue runs between several lanes of traffic, two of which are through lanes but lack visual reminders that drivers must continue straight.

As a result, motorists routinely are turning right onto the Highway 4 on-ramp and crossing into the bike lane, risking a collision with anyone who happens to be in their path.

“The configuration is not something we’re comfortable with,” said Linsey Willis, director of external affairs for the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, which mapped out how traffic would share the road as part of constructing the new highway interchange.

She noted that motorists are confused because the rules of the road have changed; while the interchange was under construction they were allowed to turn right.

Nick Costa was on his way to catch a bus when he and a driver had to swerve to avoid an accident.

The Antioch resident started into the intersection on his bike when the light turned green, but “as I’m going through, I realize the guy on my left is turning into me,” he said.

CCTA began brainstorming solutions several weeks ago after it received a video from a Los Medanos College journalism professor who used his media skills to illustrate the problem and uploaded the finished product to YouTube.

“This is crazy,” said Antioch resident Curtis Corlew, an avid cyclist who plans on riding his bike to eBART. “If you were setting something up to get a cyclist killed, that’s the way to do it.”

“He did a great public service in my judgment,” said Keller, who represents a region that includes East Contra Costa.

He added that Corlew provided the cautionary show-and-tell in time for CCTA to find a resolution before the station opens.

The agency plans to paint arrows in the far left lanes as well as add signs alerting those drivers that they can’t turn onto the highway.

While Caltrans is making the signs, there will be portable electronic ones displaying a digital warning.

Meanwhile, bicycling enthusiasts are hoping that another BART project eventually will provide a workaround — literally — to a gap in a 9.6-mile paved trail that runs between Antioch and Brentwood.

The route, which is one segment of the much longer Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail, is interrupted by the Highway 4 bypass.

Without a bridge spanning the state route, cyclists are consigned to a lengthy detour that also can be dangerous.

Or they take their life in their hands as Costa used to do about once a week when visiting a friend in Brentwood.

The Antioch resident would ride to where the trail ended, skirt a chain link fence, hoist his bike over a barrier on the shoulder of the highway, and make a dash across the lanes to pick up the trail on the other side — a gamble he always took at night to avoid getting caught.

Now, however, BART and other transportation agencies have begun the initial planning for a second eBART station near the break in the trail, and the project includes a bike and pedestrian bridge that will span the highway.

It’s only logical that residents should have a way to reach the trains, Keller said.

Where the money will come from to build the transit center — the estimated price tag for Antioch’s is $524 million — and when the project might materialize is uncertain, however.

CCTA staff members tentatively have agreed to match $150,000 of the $400,000 that BART will be spending to do some more preliminary legwork, which includes designing the bridge and deciding what land it needs to buy to build it.

The way Corlew sees it, connecting both ends of the trail to create a shorter, safer route for bicyclists is a win-win for everybody.

“When cycling infrastructure improves you get more cyclists, and the more cyclists you get the less impact it has on existing drivers,” he said. “It’s an all-around good thing.”

Rowena Coetsee is a staff writer who has been covering all the news that's fit to print since beginning her career at the Palo Alto Times. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, she joined Bay Area News Group as a features writer and these days works a beat in East Contra Costa County that includes city government, K-12 education and a fire district.

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